Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 1
13th Annual Academic Success Institute Let’s Talk! Promoting Discourse and Academic Vocabulary
Development for English Learners (Grades K-5)
March 14, 2015
Presented by
María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D.
Curled up in a ball of fur, kittens mew, kittens purr.
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There were said to be rough soldiers and armed campesinos about.
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Academic Language
Rebecca Blanco thinks that schools shouldn’t allow students to bring cell phones to school. But I don’t agree with her. She kind of thinks that most students who own cell phones are irresponsible guys who keep using them at the wrong times, interrupt class, and don’t pay attention. I agree with Jose Bluff who thinks that cell phones can keep students safe because they can call their parents at any moment.
Change the following informal passage into academic English:
________________________________________________________________________
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Adapted from: Bill Daley, 1997
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 2
Response Starters
After I’m not sure Although I’m surprised An important Maybe As a result In my opinion Despite Because of Instead of I agree Before Just because Perhaps I believe Since I doubt The problem I guess While Throughout I suppose Unless I think I wonder When I’m certain I question I predict If This reminds me
Precision Partners
Purposefully partner students to provide ample opportunities for practice.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Phrasal Verbs
call on, calm down, (not) care for, care for, catch on, catch up (with), check in(to), check off, check out (of), check out, cheer up, chew out, clam up, come across, come down with, come to, count on, crack down (on), cross out, cut back (on), iron out, pan out, pass away, pass out, pick out, pick up, pick on, pitch in, pull off, pull over, put away, put off, put on, put out, put up, put up with, put back, do in, do over, drag on, draw up,
Scarcella 2001
act up, act like, add up, add up to , ask out, get across, get along (with), get around, get around to, get by, get off, get out of, get over, get rid of, get up, give up, go out with, go with, goof off, grow up, make fun of, make up, make up (with), make for, mark up, mark down, mix up, back down, back off, back up, blow up, bone up on, break down, break in, break up, bring (take) back, bring off, bring up,
Common phrasal verbs that ELs should know in the elementary:
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 3
Phrasal Verbs
throw out, throw up, try on, try out, try out (for), turn around, turn in, turn down, turn off, turn on, turn up, hang up, have to do with, hold up, nod off, call off, keep on, kick out, drop out (of), draw out, jump all over, rip off, round off, run into, build up, burn down, burn up, butt in, butter up, hand in, hand out, drop off, drop in (on), drop by, brush up on, take off, take up, tell someone off, tick off, throw away, take care of,
Scarcella 2001
knock out, knock oneself out, set up, set back, slip up, stand out, stand up, show up, stand for, face up to, fall through, feel up to, figure out, run into, run out of, eat out, egg on, end up, fill in, fill in for, fill out, find out (about), lay off, leave out, let down, let up, look back on, look down on, look forward to, look in on, look into, look like, look over, look up, look up to, luck out, take after, take/bring back,
Common phrasal verbs that ELs should know in the elementary:
1. Marking: Drawing attention to an idea that has
come up in order to emphasize its importance.
2. Turning Back To Students: Turning responsibility
back to students for thinking through and figuring
out ideas.
3. Turning Back To Text: Turning students' attention
back to the text as a source for clarifying their
thinking.
4. Recasting: Interpreting what students are struggling
to express and rephrasing the ideas.
5. Modeling: Making public some of the processes in
which readers engage in the course of reading.
Extending Discussions
The Wright Group Questioning the Author Participant Manual
Student: “And you need to use water.”
Teacher: “What did the author tell us about the
temperature of the water when washing hands?” ___
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Student: “Because he wants every part clean,
because he worry about the people.”
Teacher: “So the owner wants to keep his
restaurant clean because he worries that the
customers might get sick.” _______
Extending Discussions
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 4
Teacher: “Oooh, let me read that again, ‘Each employee
must wash his hands THOROUGHLY, or completely, with
warm water AND soap.’ That part of the sentence really lets
me picture how the employees should wash their hands. I
can imagine how it would look and feel.” _______ -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Student: “because germs are bad.”
Teacher: “How are germs bad?” ________ -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Student: “It is bad not to wash your hands because they
can be dirty and the germs, and the food, you eat, and
you can get sick.”
Teacher: “So it’s the GERMS that can make you sick.”
_______
Prepositions
Sara came over __ play __ Lucia’s house. She was coming over __ see Lucia’s new kittens. When she arrived, they quickly ran up __ Lucia’s room. There, __ her closet, were five white kittens, all __ a cardboard box. After a few minutes, they heard knocking __ the door. It was Mary’s grandmother __ a tray __ milk and cookies __ the girls. She said, “I’ll just leave these ___ your desk so you can eat while you visit.” Sara and Lucia played and talked __ the kittens all afternoon long.
Following Directions
1. In the middle of your paper, draw a happy face.
2. On top of the happy face, draw a triangle
3. Above the triangle, draw a sun
4. Below the happy face, draw a table
5. Under the table, draw a heart
6. In the triangle, draw a square
7. Draw a moon on the right side of your paper (close to the edge), parallel to the sun.
8. Draw a line connecting the sun to the moon.
9. Draw a glass of water on the right side of the table
10. Draw a star behind the left leg of the table.
11. On the top left hand corner of your paper, draw a cloud
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 5
She does her homework she plays video games. before
Move That Phrase!
since, if, because, however
Sentence Scramble
The
new
will
school
the
Most Frequent Phrases
Fry, 2008
• it was new
• work on it
• can come here
• they will go
• are so long
• before this one
• as long as
• but not me
• be here again
• have been good
• have to go
• they did not
• then you give
• was to come
• he has been
• what we know
• that old man
• in and out
• not up here
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 6
Vocabulary and ELLs
• One major determinant of poor reading comprehension for ELLs is low vocabulary. Lack of knowledge of the lower frequency academic words encountered in textbooks impedes reading comprehension (Garcia, 1991; Nagy, 1997; Verhoeven, 1990).
• “Vocabulary must be explicitly taught to ELLs if they are to catch up to grade-level standards. . . . This instruction must be part of a comprehensive language/literacy program” (p. 131, Calderón, et al. 2005).
• Focus on a small number of critical words and provide multiple exposures of the word to build depth of knowledge and emphasize words over time (Gersten & Baker, 2000).
The Power of Vocabulary
• is the BEST predictor of reading comprehension.
• First grade vocabulary predicts 11th grade reading
comprehension (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1997)
• Grade 4 vocabulary predicts grade 12 reading (Snow
et al., 1991)
• Kindergarten – 7th grade (Dickinson & Tabors, 2001)
• Age 4 ---- 4th grade (Storch & Whitehurst, 2002)
• Age 3 --- 4th grade (Hart & Risley, 1995; Walker et al., 1994;
NICHD 2005)
Tiers of Words
Tier 1- Basic, everyday words that students learn on their own.
Tier 2- Are common enough that most mature readers are familiar with them. They can be found across various contexts and topics and understanding the meaning of these words promotes everyday reading and listening comprehension.
Tier 3- Low-frequency words; many of which are domain specific.
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
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Tiers of Words for ELL
• High frequency, grade-level, and content area words
• Less obvious cognates
• Multiple meaning/polysemous words –Need to be deliberately taught
– Students must learn how to use them in various contexts
(Adapted from Calderón, et al. 2003)
Tier 2A Words
Tier 2BWords
Word Maps
An example
for imitation
or emulation
1
A miniature
representation
2
One who
displays clothes
or merchandise
3
model
Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts. (2002). Teacher Reading Academies. Austin, TX: TCRLA
Making the Match!
a stone
ROCK
to move back and
forth
a type of music
I have a collection with many different kinds of
rocks
My teenage brother is
always listening to rock on the
radio
My Mom rocks my
baby brother to
sleep
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 8
Which are Tier II Words?
civilization monotheism deity
covenant dynasty papyrus
cataract hieroglyphics tribute
embalming Alkhenaton Ahmose
savanna Sanskrit raja
caste guru monsoon
The Frequency of English Words
• The 100 most frequent words account for about 50% of the words in a typical text
• The 1,000 most frequent words account for about 70% of the words
• The 5,000 most frequent words account for about 80% of the words
Graves, Sales, & Ruda (2008); Hiebert (2005)
* However, 95% of words must be known to infer meaning (Liu & Nation 1985)
The First 4,000 Words
A list of the roughly 4,000 most frequent word families listed in order of their frequency:
• Target Words - 3,541 (little, even, good, fundamental, dissolved)
• Function Words - 116 (such, before, anything, although)
• Proper Nouns - 148 (Richard, Willie, Hamilton)
• The 100 Most Frequent Words (the, of, and, to, that)
http://www.sewardreadingresources.com/i
mg/fourkw/4KW_Teaching_List.pdf
Graves, Sales, & Ruda (2008)
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 9
Dictionaries: Proceed with Caution
• Students must already have some knowledge of the word for the definition to make sense.
• The definition does not explain how the word is different from other analogous words.
• Definitions often use vague language with insufficient information.
• When reading definitions, students have difficulty taking syntax, structure, and part of speech into account.
Things to consider when asking students to look up words in the dictionary
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002; Miller & Gildea, 1987; Scott & Nagy, 1989, 1997; Vacca & Vacca, 1996.
1) the quality of or state of being delicate; fineness, weakness,
sensitivity, etc.
2) a choice food
1) something good to eat that is expensive or rare: Snails are
considered a delicacy in France.
2) a careful and sensitive way of speaking or behaving so that
you do not upset anyone; tact
He carried out his duties with great delicacy and understanding.
Not All Definitions are The Same
Traditional Dictionary
Student Friendly Definition
SFE for Young Children
• If something is dazzling, that means that it’s so bright that you can hardly look at it. After lots of
long, gloomy winter days, sunshine on a sunny day might seem dazzling.
• Strange describes something different from what you are used to seeing or hearing.
• Exhausted means feeling so tired that you can hardly move.
• When someone is a nuisance, he or she is bothering you.
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 10
Dictionaries with Student-Friendly Explanations
• Oxford Elementary Learner’s Dictionary • Collins Cobuild Student’s Dictionary
• Heinle’s Newbury House Dictionary of American English (http://nhd.heinle.com/home.aspx)
• Longman Dictionary of American English (http://www.ldoceonline.com)
• Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
Strategies for Using the Dictionary
1. Locate the unknown word in the glossary or
dictionary
2. Tell yourself what the text is about
3. Read each definition and select the best one
4. Try the possible meaning in the sentence
5. Ask yourself, “Does this make sense?”
Archer, 2005
Indirect Learning
Indirect learning has higher effects for
students with higher levels of vocabulary
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 11
Direct/Explicit Instruction
“Direct teaching of vocabulary might be one of
the most underused activities in K-12 education. The lack of vocabulary instruction might be a result of misconceptions about what it means to teach vocabulary and its potential effect on student learning. Perhaps the biggest misconception is that teaching vocabulary means teaching formal dictionary definitions.”
-Marzano et al. 2002
Vocabulary Instruction
• Actively involve students • Provide multiple exposures (Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986)
– Discuss the meaning of the same word in different sentences
• Encourage deep processing – Connect to prior knowledge – Provide opportunities for students to use the words – Discuss new word together with related words – Suggest when/how to use the word – Have students create sentences
• Answer 3 or 4 of these: what, where, when, how, who, why (adapted from
Success for All)
• Provide practice over time
• Monitor students’ understanding
Archer 2006; Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
Instructional Routine
Introduce
– Write and say the word
– Have students repeat it
Explain
– Use student friendly explanation
– Show picture/demonstrate
– Provide sample sentences and examples/non-examples
Practice
– Engage students in activities/elaboration
– Help students connect to self
– Monitor students’ understanding
– Revisit words over time
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 12
An Excellent Resource for Vocabulary Instruction
Bringing Words to
Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction
By Isabel Beck, McKeown, and Kucan (2002)
Have You Ever?
• Describe a time when you might urge/console/commend someone
• Describe an animal that is dangerous/gruesome
• Describe a time when you felt dread/scared/danger
• The audience asked the virtuoso to play another piece of music because …
• The skiing teacher said Melanie was a novice on the ski slopes because . . .
• Paul called Tim a coward when . . .
Idea Completion
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
Overheard Conversations
• “There’s nothing like it in the world!”
• “It’s fantastic! Better than I could have imagined”
• “That was a weird one”
• “What a drag!”
unique extraordinary
monotonous peculiar
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 13
What Would It Mean?
What would the word responsible mean to
• Your mom?
• The president of the U.S.?
• Mickey Mouse?
What would the word reluctant mean to
• A young child?
• A cat?
• Aiko?
Stick a Word! • The teacher sticks a word/picture on a student’s back. • The class/team should be able to see the word, but not
the student with the card on his/her back. • The target student asks a series of YES/NO questions
to try and figure out what the word/picture is (e.g., “Is it an animal?”, “Is it related to science?”, “Is it a feeling?”, “Is it an action?”
• If the student cannot figure out the word after three YES/NO questions, the class/team provides a clue (e.g., category, c0ntent area).
• Repeat these steps (three YES/NO questions, one clue, etc.) until the word is guessed.
• Teams/students who figure out the word with the fewest questions, win. Set a time limit if need be.
Words Worth Chart
great amazing magnificent
irate
small
elated
terrified
Copyright READINGRESOURCE.NET
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 14
Opposites Attract
• Each student is given a card with a word written on it.
• On your cue, everyone walks around the room SILENTLY looking for the opposite word.
• Once the students have found the person with the opposite word, they come up with a sentence or situation in which both terms can be used.
• Call on several pairs to share their responses.
What is it?
What is it like?
Examples Nonexamples WORD or CONCEPT
Concept Word Map
Concept Word Map
Definition: next to Synonym: aside
Sentence:
The beautiful oak tree is
adjacent to the house.
Picture:
Reading Selection: A
Christmas Memory by Truman
Capote (p. 152)
Antonym: distant
Word: Adjacent
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 15
icy
sweet
frozen
fruity
What is it like?
Sherbet is a dessert made of ice and juice. It is frozen, icy, sweet, and fruity. Some examples of the flavors that sherbet comes in include rainbow, lemon, and orange.
Concept Word Map with Definition
What are some
examples?
What is it?
Your Definition:
rainbow
orange
lemon
SHERBET
Food; dessert made of ice and juice
Venn Diagram
mammal
walks
legs
give birth
fish
swims
fins
lay eggs
pets
move
eat
animals
eyes
DALMATIAN GOLDFISH
How Well Do You Know These Words?
Word Before Instruction After Instruction
serendipity
pedantic
miscreant
ribosome
eukaryotic
HIGH KNOWLEDGE LOW KNOWLEDGE
4 = I could teach it to the class 2 = I recognize it but need a review
3 = I am pretty sure what it means 1 = I have no clue what it means
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 16
How Well Do You Know These Words?
delight
mighty
colossal
Language v. Content
When planning a lesson
consider what part of the
lesson requires language skills and which is dealing with
content skills.
Word Scaling
McKeown & Beck, 2004
crying
bawling
wailing
weeping
grieving
howling
tearing up
sobbing
sniveling
keening
yowling
mourning
moaning lamenting
screaming
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 17
Word Scaling
McKeown & Beck, 2004
running jogging walking
prancing sprinting
marching strolling
trotting
Word Lines
How much energy does it take to . . .
1. Embrace a teddy bear?
2. Flex your little finger?
3. Thrust a heavy door shut?
4. Beckon to someone for five straight hours?
5. Seize a feather floating through the air?
Least energy ______________ Most energy
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
Yes/No – Why?
• Can a hermit be gregarious?
• Can a police officer be a criminal?
• Can a villain be a philanthropist?
• Can someone recover from a fatal injury?
• Can toddlers avoid getting the cold?
• Juxtapose 2 or more vocabulary words into a question
• Requires student to think relationally using the meaning of the words to explain their answers
• Can be both a practice activity or an assessment tool
Beck, Perfetti, & McKeown, 1982; Feldman, 2005
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 18
Word Pair Analysis
Word Pair Same Opposite Go Together
No Relation
admire/like
disappointed/
glad
coward/kind
villain/
accomplice
Stahl & Kapinus, 2001
Example/Non-Example
A mother tells her children that they should remember to take their vitamins every morning
urge Children tell their mother that they already took their vitamins
The class makes plans for a Flag Day assembly
chorus The whole class says the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag
A child asks politely for a band-aid after falling down
wail A child screams after falling down
Our neighbors once told us that they had lived in Florida
mention Our neighbors are always talking about when they lived in Florida
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
Using Describing Words
My puppy is _________, _______, and ________.
The Florida Center for Reading Research, 2005
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 19
Which One Doesn’t Belong?
1. n
2. Michael, Toby, Richardson, Lisa
3. time - mime, cat - hat, fold - bed, tent - rent
4. big house, blue napkin, sad clown, quickly walking
5. mom, playground, cowboy, draw
6. small-tiny, rough-smooth, happy-excited, run-jog
7. bear-bare, torn-ripped, steal-steel, rain-reign
Word Monsters
Jo Robinson, 2005
• Compare spoken language with literate
language
• Model good language use
– Complete sentences
– Precise language
– Use native language strategically
– Academic and testing language
– Integrate target vocabulary into your language
Adapted from Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts. (2002). Teacher Reading Academies. Austin, TX: TCRLA
High-Quality Oral Language
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 20
• Scaffold students oral language
– Use questions, prompts, and cues
– Recast students’ responses
– Ask for clarification/justification/elaboration
– Engage students in retelling (narrative and expository)
Adapted from Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts. (2002). Teacher Reading Academies. Austin, TX: TCRLA
High-Quality Oral Language
Retellings
1) Teacher reads
2) Teacher retells using props
3) Teacher retells while student uses props
4) Teacher and student retell using props
5) Student retells
Texas Center for Reading and Language Arts. (2002). Teacher Reading Academies. Austin, TX: TCRLA
Engage students in both narrative and expository retellings
Word Consciousness
Read good literature
Identify “gift of words” in
context
Talk about language used by
good authors
Provide scaffolded
opportunities to experiment with
language
The Teacher’s Role
Scott & Nagy, 2004
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 21
reluctant
enormous
admire
“You have your word antenna on
today!” “You’re a
great word detective!”
“You used a million dollar word!”
Word Consciousness
Book Wall
reluctant
enormous
admire
stampeding
coincidence
reply enamored
colossal peer(ed) tresses
resistance
conquer
scowl
mightier
roar
pouted improve
prance
updates
quotation
soak hammock
tracking
wiggle
Content Wall
lava
magma
eruption
cytoplasm
nucleus
evaporation
protoplasm
stomata
chlorophyll
photosynthesis
gas
heat
soil
coastal
erosion
Golgi apparatus
mitochondria
ribosome
water
condensation
precipitation
leaves
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 22
Word Detective
Name ________________
Book Title ____________
Author _______________
Word Page
_______________ ______
_______________ ______
_______________ ______
_______________ ______
_______________ ______
_______________ ______
_______________ ______
_______________ ______
Word Detective
Bookmark Adapted from The Florida Center
for Reading Research, 2005
1) echolocation
2) molting
.
.
Questions, Reasons, and Examples
• If you are walking around a dark room, you need to do it cautiously. Why? What are some other things that need to be done cautiously?
• Which of these things might be extraordinary? Why/why not? - A shirt that was comfortable, or a shirt that washed
itself?
- A flower that kept blooming all year, or a flower that
bloomed for three days?
- A person who has a library card, or a person who has
read all the books in the library?
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 23
Vocabulary Word Sorts
insects shapes plants other
oval violin
stem
bee leaves
mug
sheep
thorax
arthropod
pyramid
sides roots
FARM ANIMALS
chicken
pig
goat
sheep
cow
horse
● ●
● turkey
duck
●
Content Area Word Wall
Copyright (2015) María Elena Argüelles, Ph.D. 24
¡Gracias!
Thank You! [email protected]
Academic Vocabulary for
English Learners (AVEL)
Argüelles & Smith
Cambium Learning, 2011
http://store.cambiumlearning.com/academic-vocabulary-for-english-learners/
Teaching English Learners: A Supplemental
LETRS Module for Instructional
Leaders
Argüelles, Baker, & Moats
Cambium Learning, 2011
http://store.cambiumlearning.com/teaching-english-learners/
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